When the Seattle Sounders practiced for the first time as an MLS franchise in 2009, I was there. A little more than three years later, who could have foreseen that I would be standing in a cold rain Monday morning watching USL Pro expansion franchise Phoenix FC practice for the first time in their existence?

For a time it took me back to my Seattle days, the 20 players jogging and doing fitness drills on grass near the Arizona State football practice facility in the rain. Lots of communication during 7-on-7. A goal was scored and someone shouted “First goal in Phoenix FC history!”

Day 1 featured a morning practice and an afternoon session and on Valentine’s Day, the club is scheduled for a 5 p.m. scrimmage at Reach 11 Sports Complex. The 20 included a number of trialists but featured former Scottish Premier League striker Darren Mackie, the club’s first signing, and former MLS goalkeeper Andrew Weber, who played for the Seattle Sounders last season. Weber and his brother Elliot, a defender, are with the team.

I’m three years into my move to Arizona and we now have a pro soccer team to follow. There’s much to be worked out logistically — this isn’t the seemingly seamless transition from USL First Division to MLS that the Sounders, Timbers and Whitecaps made. But everything feels more right than uneasy. It’s all so new still, but training camp has opened and the first game of the season is March 30 at Arizona State’s soccer stadium.

By the time that day arrives, Phoenix FC will have its 26-man active and travel roster set. The seating from the recently-completed Waste Management Open golf tournament will have been transported and installed to make the ASU soccer stadium bigger.

And Arizona now has two active pro soccer clubs. FC Tucson thrives to the south and Phoenix FC hopes to draw crowds of its own.

Mackie figures to be the team captain. His teammates seemed somewhat awed to be on the pitch with a guy with major European experience. Mackie seems to understand that he is there to mentor players as much as be a scorer. Here he is talking about his first practice, only days removed since he and his family arrived from Scotland.

Robertson said he’d like to have as close to 26 players as he can going into the season, and perhaps a bit more he can select from if needed.

“I do want us to play attacking soccer,” Robertson said. “The formation will go from game to game depending on the opponents we play.”

“I just want them to play attractive soccer so that people will come and watch,” Robertson added.

Defender Jose Ramos, like other teammates, is thrilled to play for a team in his hometown.

“For the young kids, too, that are barely starting… this is going to be a good opportunity for them, too,” Ramos said.

The Webers were excited to be back on the same pitch together for the first time in years. Andrew said that he’s glad to see an actual team in the Phoenix area after so much talk in years past about the formation of other teams that didn’t pan out.

And poor Humberto Soriano. The goalkeeper came out of the locker room to change his shoes and got stuck being interviewed by myself, Odeen Domingo of the Arizona Republic and Ed Cole of ProstoPreps.com. He was happy to be on the team, but freezing and shivering in the cold. After a couple of minutes we stopped so he could go inside and get warm.

People out here don’t do rain well. Nevertheless, it was an historic day for soccer in Arizona and I was there to document it.

The loyalty of Sounders FC fans is a beautiful thing. They turn out game after game, season after season, the love for their boys undying.

Yet I wonder how many of them are content with early-round playoff exits. With U.S. Open Cups — nice, but not the ultimate prize. With frustrating losses every now and then to teams the club should beat.

I’m long removed from the day-to-day news and observing of the club. Three playoff appearances in the first three years of existence is impressive — a lot of teams would take that in a heartbeat. But I sense that Sounders fans expect more, demand more. And they should.

I do think the Sounders beat themselves, aside from a defense that has not played well of late. That Fredy Montero was sent off in the Portland game was confounding. Your best striker pushing off — even if the Timbers’ David Horst flopped — and costing himself and his team with a suspension, at a time when the Sounders need to get back on the winning track. The Sounders have to do a better job of managing their emotions through this recent winless streak.

There were some needless, senseless fouls from both teams, Portland and Seattle. But my sense is that the Timbers, with less talent, were fine with turning the game into a physical tussle. The Sounders aren’t that kind of team overall, and really never have been.

Having said all that, Sounders fans, you still have a playoff team. The organization has made some fantastic calls with player personnel. There’s a ton of depth and Adrian Hanauer, Chris Henderson and Sigi Schmid reload with fresh talent each year. Some of that talent is guys who might not have gotten their chance as rookies or younger players — they have had to learn to be patient and wait their turn.

It’s a testament to the club that they are able to stockpile developing players. Seattle is an ultimate soccer destination for any professional player, it’s hard to leave once you get there. Ask Mike Fucito, Lamar Neagle, Sebastien Le Toux and James Riley.

Enough opinion. Let’s watch some videos.

Here’s a rainy night in Portland (Timbers-Whitecaps) last month.

Here is the Southsiders supporters group in song in Portland. What a season so far for Vancouver, congrats to them.

On the other hand, my gut feeling tells me Seattle paid too high a price for forward Eddie Johnson’s rights. Giving up two talents with the potential of Neagle and Mike Fucito couldn’t have been easy. They both have a lot of upside, while Johnson will have to prove himself worthy of the fans’ loyalty.

I got a chance to catch up with Neagle a couple of weeks ago when the Sounders were in Arizona for training. Here’s highlights of our mostly light-hearted conversation:

On why he kept No. 27 and didn’t take a different jersey number:

“That first year, they (family members) bought jerseys. I was going to change it, yeah. I ordered like 60 or something like that jerseys.”

Photo courtesy of Rick Morrison

On from where he was as a developmental to where he is now:

“It’s been pretty crazy the last couple of years. Been away, came back and actually started playing. Couldn’t ask for more really.”

What precipitated all of that?

“Just getting comfortable. Just realizing I could play. I think going down to Charleston was good for me because when I first came here, the pace was too fast… once I went to Charleston and had success there, it was kind of a step in between. It made it a lot easier. It built my confidence and made me more comfortable on the field. Coming in and knowing all the guys already makes it a lot easier as well.” Read the rest of this entry »

Shouts out to all the people back in the Northwest, happy to maintain that soccer connection with you. I’ve been doing a lot of work for MLSSoccer.com of late covering preseason training. It’s all on the site.

Living in Arizona sometimes has its benefits as a soccer journalist and fan. This state gets annual MLS preseason training in Phoenix, Tucson and the biggest town between the two, Casa Grande.

I’ve been extremely busy with work but I have managed to see three matches — New England-FC Tucson, Real Salt Lake intrasquad and Sounders-Whitecaps, with a DC United-Sporting Kansas City matchup planned for this Saturday.

Since I’m more familiar with the Sounders and Whitecaps, I’ll say this about Vancouver: It stockpiled some guys that on paper can be major contributors, but that remains to seen. The ‘Caps need some center midfield help and are giving a long look at two new defenders, as that facet of the game was a big problem in 2011.

From Monday’s starting lineup, I was surprised not to see Jordan Harvey, who I think is a solid choice, in that group at left back, but that could change.

Also strange to see Davide Chiumiento not working with the first team. But that shows the depth the Whitecaps appear to have at the offensive positions. Still, they’ve got to find someone to distribute the ball and connect passes and it may or may not be John Thorrington. The ‘Caps have lot of attack-minded forward types — Seba Le Toux (great to catch up with him BTW), Atiba Harris, Camilo Sanvezzo, Omar Salgado — but seem to be lacking in center mid.

Honestly I thought Vancouver’s starting group in Monday’s scrimmage played better overall than Seattle’s. The Sounders missed some passes, didn’t possess the ball well for long stretches and Vancouver looked more active and attacking. The Sounders did pick it up with their first group eventually, as Adam Johansson served a ball well to Jhon Kennedy Hurtado in the 44th minute that Hurtado just missed hitting with his head toward the goal.

In the 37th minute, Roger Levesque got a head on a ball that just missed wide.

The Sounders clearly have a ton of depth, though, as seen in how the second group started the second 45 minutes of the match even though coach Sigi Schmid thought their effort and energy faded as the half progressed.

Schmid said the Whitecaps were motivated to play hard from the outset for their new coach, Martin Rennie, and that the Sounders didn’t have a scouting report, they just went out and played against whomever was on the field.

Schmid is going to have some hard decisions to make as to whom to keep on the roster.

Cordell Cato, a 19-year-old forward-wing from Trinidad, has impressed in the two times I’ve seen him play for Seattle. David Estrada and Servando Carrasco could push for more playing time after good showings Monday.

Johansson looks like a more than suitable new right back for the Sounders, very good at chasing the ball and distributing from the back to the attackers.

The officiating was bad. Those guys let the game become too physical with all of the hard tackles and fouls. At least the intensity is there on the part of both teams early in their preseasons.

Let’s move on to some visuals… stay with me and click to the next page.

Another perfect “winter” day in central Arizona, and my annual reunion with Seattle Sounders FC Saturday morning and afternoon in Casa Grande.

It’s nice that after two years away from these guys, there are still some familiar faces and guys who remember me and who were kind enough to take the time to say hello or catch up. Coaches Sigi Schmid, Tom Dutra, Brian Schmetzer and David Tenney, staff guys Matt Gaschk, Huy Nguyen, Mike Ferris and Grant Clark and of course, the players — Fredy Montero, Osvaldo Alonso, Lamar Neagle, Jeff Parke, Brad Evans, Mike Fucito, Steve Zakuani and Roger Levesque.

I also spoke with new GK Michael Gspurning and midfielder Mauro Rosales for the first time.

But enough with the sentimental stuff. The morning session was interesting in that there were two 11-man teams of reserves on one field — Orange v. Blue — and a third group of guys who figure to be the starters and regular rotation players when the Sounders’ season starts in early March with a CONCACAF Champions league match.

That third group included Evans, Fucito, Alonso, Neagle, Montero, Rosales, Patrick Ianni, Alvaro “Flaco” Fernandez, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and defenders Adam Johansson and Marc Burch. Parke was given a day off from practicing but did some light running.

The Orange squad featured Zakuani at left midfield, Mike Seamon at center mid, Servando Carrasco at holding mid and Levesque at right wing. Leo Gonzalez played left back and the forwards were David Estrada and Babayele Sodade.

The Blue team was led by Sammy Ochoa as the lone forward and Zach Scott at right back. Trialists Harlinton Gutierres and Ever Alvarado played center and left back, and trialist Andrew Vanzie got a long look at center mid. He played well in the two 20-minute halves.

The Orange side got a goal when trialist Wes Feighner caught up to a long ball and controlled and crossed nicely to Sodade, who finished the play putting the ball past goalkeeper Andrew Weber, who couldn’t do much with it.

Blue team midfielder Cordell Cato impressed in the scrimmage, but easily the moment of the day came when Zakuani, coming back from that horrific injury last season, looked strong running hard to catch up to a ball and then dribbled around his defender for a clear shot.

The play happened right before the end of the session. It was, for a flash, the Zakuani that Sounders fans have become accustomed to, flying down the wing and getting a shot off. This one went a little too high.

“It was another chance for us to look at some of the players that are competing for spots on the team, and also get some good fitness work in for the first-team guys,” Schmid said.

Schmid said the coaches planned to play Zakuani for the first 20 minutes, but he asked to play the second half, too.

“I think he ran out of gas at about the 30-minute mark,” Schmid said. “The last 10 he just sort of stood up front and became a forward who really didn’t chase back much. But he had the opportunity at the end. You saw the old Zakuani stepover, push it inside and just hit it over the top.

“With each day he gets a little more confidence. There’s still no timeline on the whole thing (recovery),” Schmid added. “Every day it gets a little better.”

As I sat in the press box at University of Phoenix Stadium Saturday night, working on the four stories I field for both MLSSoccer.com and SB Nation Arizona, I didn’t really consider that the U.S. national soccer team that had so excitingly defeated Venezuela 1-0 on a last-ditch header by Ricardo Clark was not the “A” roster of national team players.

Game on Saturday night in Glendale AZ. U.S. in white.

Of course I was aware of it. But the game was still a good one, and an admirable performance at that, by a bunch of American Major League Soccer guys and a few Americans in Europe not heralded in the way Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, Jozy Altidore and Carlos Bocanegra are.

I really like watching those guys play, but seeing this U.S. team play hard and fast and win, no matter whom the opponent (Venezuela was a very game foe, needless to say, despite not using many of its frontline players) brought me a sense of appreciation and gratification.

I’ve been a fan of MLS since the 2008 season when I really began to follow the league. It’s not the EPL or La Liga or the Bundesliga or Serie A, and maybe it never will be. But I like the direction in which the league is headed. I like that the infusion of the Cascadia teams has increased the league’s profile. I like the openness and availability and accessibility of and to the players and coaches and league staff. I like the pattern of managed growth and the choices of expansion cities, knowing well that my current home, Phoenix, may never be on that list.

I liked knowing that I was familiar with almost every player on the field Saturday, be it through previous interviews or just from watching a lot of games. I have to thank Ives Galarcep for the opportunity to write for his Soccer by Ives web site because it forced me to follow MLS even more closely, and now it’s kind of a habit. And it helps that I was there for the start of an MLS franchise and the first season of the Seattle Sounders, making me a fan of the league by default.

Sure, many of these guys might never feature in a World Cup for the Americans, even though Clark and Jermaine Jones, who played very well, have done so. At least soccer fans in the U.S. know that the players in their domestic league are a bunch of quality character, hard-working guys who are willing to learn from Jurgen Klinsmann and get better and perhaps take the next step in their careers. And those fans should know, if they don’t already, that a league is only as good as its players, and there is quality soccer to be seen live at MLS stadiums around North America.

Support the league. Support these players — A.J. DeLaGarza and Graham Zusi and Bill Hamid and Jeff Parke and Chris Wondolowski and Juan Agudelo and C.J Sapong and Kyle Beckerman and Geoff Cameron and many more. Appreciate what we have, because they certainly do. The 2012 season starts in less than two months.

Let’s take care of the ballot first. I was asked recently by Soccer by Ives to submit a ballot for postseason MLS awards, and here are the players I selected. This is strictly based on the games that I saw throughout the season, admittedly I saw more teams involving West teams than East.